Caramelized peaches from the griddle. Honey mascarpone base. Toasted pistachios and fresh basil over the top the moment it comes out of the oven. A drizzle of honey that pools around everything. This is the dessert pizza that makes everyone put their phone down when it arrives at the table.
Grilled Peach Dessert Pizza
|HALO
Grilled Peach Dessert Pizza
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Dessert
Cuisine
Italian
Author:
HALO
Servings
2 pizzas
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Make the honey mascarpone base. Combine room temperature mascarpone, honey, vanilla extract, salt, and lemon zest. Mix until smooth and spreadable. Give it a taste test! It should be rich, lightly sweet, and aromatic from the vanilla. Set aside at...
Ingredients
Dough
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2 x 250g pizza dough balls, cold fermented 48–72 hours
Peaches
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3 ripe but firm peaches, halved and pitted
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1 tablespoon neutral oil
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1 tablespoon brown sugar
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Pinch of cinnamon
Honey Mascarpone Base
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200g mascarpone, room temperature
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2 tablespoons good honey
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Pinch of fine salt
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Zest of half a lemon
Toppings (per pizza)
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30g pistachios, roughly chopped and toasted
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Optional: Cooked prosciutto
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Small handful fresh basil leaves
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2 tablespoons good honey, for finishing
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Pinch of flaky sea salt
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Optional: 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze for finishing
Directions
Caramelize the peaches first on the Elite Griddle at medium-high heat. Brush the cut side of each peach half with neutral oil. Place cut side down on the griddle. Leave alone for 3–4 minutes until deeply caramelized and golden. The cut side should be almost jammy with concentrated sugar and have visible char marks from the steel. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon in the last minute, it melts into the caramelized surface. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Slice each half into 4–5 thin wedges.
Make the honey mascarpone base. Combine room temperature mascarpone, honey, vanilla extract, salt, and lemon zest. Mix until smooth and spreadable. Taste test! It should be rich, lightly sweet, and aromatic from the vanilla. Set aside at room temperature. Cold mascarpone is too stiff to spread without tearing the dough.
Toast the pistachios in a dry pan or on a low zone of the griddle for 2–3 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden. Set aside to cool. They go on after the bake because toasted pistachios in a 750°F oven burn.
Fire up the Versa 16 Pizza Oven and bring the stone to 650–700°F. A dessert pizza bakes at a slightly lower temperature than a savory one. The mascarpone base and the fruit are more delicate and benefit from the marginally longer bake that a lower temperature allows. Allow up to minutes to reach temperature.
Flour your work surface. Press the dough ball outward from the center leaving a 1-inch border. Stretch gently to approximately 10 inches, slightly smaller than a savory pizza. The dessert pizza benefits from a thicker, more bread-like base that can hold the toppings without becoming soggy.
Lay the stretched dough on a lightly floured peel. Spread the honey mascarpone base across the surface in a generous even layer leaving the border clear. It should be thick enough to see.
Arrange the caramelized peach slices across the mascarpone base. Fan them slightly rather than piling them, every slice needs some surface exposure to the oven heat. Distribute evenly from edge to edge.
Slide onto the rotating stone. Close the door. Bake for 2–5 minutes at 650–700°F. The crust should blister and develop color at the edges. The mascarpone will soften and the peaches will caramelize further against the heat. Watch the edges closely, the honey in the mascarpone base can catch quickly if the temperature is too high.
Remove with the peel. Immediately scatter the toasted pistachios across the surface. Add fresh basil leaves, they wilt beautifully against the heat of the just-baked pizza. Drizzle honey generously over everything the honey pooling into the mascarpone and around the peaches is the finishing touch. Add a pinch of flaky sea salt directly over the honey drizzle. If using balsamic glaze, add a thin drizzle now.
Cut into slices and serve immediately. This pizza is best eaten warm, the mascarpone firms up as it cools and the peaches may lose their jammy quality.
Recipe Note
Use ripe but firm peaches. An overripe peach has too much moisture and falls apart during the griddle caramelization and the oven bake. A firm-ripe peach holds its structure through both cooking stages and develops concentrated caramel flavor rather than becoming soft and wet.
Make sure to caramalize your peaches! Raw peach slices on a pizza at 700°F for 2 minutes don't develop the deep caramel quality that pre-caramelized peaches do. The griddle step is where most of the peach flavor is built.
Flaky sea salt over the finished pizza is the ingredient that takes this dessert to the next level, rather than just sweet. The salt amplifies the honey, sharpens the mascarpone, and makes the peach flavor more complex.
Fresh basil on a dessert pizza sounds unusual and tastes essential. The herby, slightly peppery quality of the basil is exactly the counterpoint that the sweetness of the mascarpone and honey needs.
This pizza works equally well as a dessert after a full outdoor cooking spread or as a standalone afternoon cook. It is genuinely one of the most impressive things that comes out of an outdoor pizza oven, both visually and in terms of flavor, and requires very little culinary skill.
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